Argos' beat-boxing Bing should've survived the alien invasion says ais creative director Richard Coggin, adVENT Day: 9

Behind the windows of this very special Drum adVENT Calendar you’ll find a different member of the creative industry venting their feelings on a Christmas ad, or ads, they love or loathe. Today it’s Richard Coggin, creative director at ais London.

Christmas is all about surprises; or it should be. Will little Petey finally get that puppy that’s been at the top of his wish list for the last 18 years? Will Amazon rise to my annual delivery challenge, even if I order at 4pm on Christmas Eve? Will we manage to get through an entire office party without dialling 999? You know the kind of thing.So, for me, yuletide ads should follow suit. Much as we all feel snuggly and cosy when the berry-red ads sprinkled with powdery snow infiltrate our screens in mid-October, it’s easy for brands to sink into lazy nostalgia at this time of year. I prefer a bit of a Christmas twist – and one that makes me crack a smile. The ad that always springs to mind was by Argos a couple of years back – long before those aliens invaded.It’s set in the 70s and starts off with all the obligatory festive touches – kids wrapped up in their retro Christmas woollens, scampering through the snow into a warm, beautifully decorated studio. They filter past that Christmas crooner extraordinaire – Bing Crosby – and take their seats. He slowly approaches the assembled audience, bow-tie impeccable, hair slicked back, passing a Christmas tree groaning with baubles, and towards the piano. The opening chords of that festive favourite start up and he picks up his microphone. And then he starts to beat-box ‘White Christmas’. Very good.The audience – a sea of brown and orange tank tops and 70s hair – smile and nod appreciatively. There are some lovely close-ups where they show how Bing’s performance is giving them a warm fuzzy feeling. Meanwhile, the star of the show gets even more into his groove, throwing in a bit of hand motion, to the crowd’s delight. His performance – and the CGI – is impeccable. What a nice, simple idea, excellently executed. The beauty lies in its understatement. It delivers a little Christmas surprise. If Argos had used a similar approach this year, people might have been clicking on their site rather than Amazon’s. Which reminds me, I must set my reminder for 24 December…Richard Coggin is Archibald Ingall Stretton’s (ais) creative director. Richard has over 16 years’ experience in the advertising industry. In 2005 Richard was named creative director at Grand Union, then Greenroom Digital in 2007 (now Momentum). As creative director of AIS London Richard works with clients such as Playstation Europe, Sony Music BMG, Coppafeel and Vodafone.Arnold Amsterdam global creative Gregg Harper looks back at the 1970s Woolies spectacular in his 8 December adVENT.